Delays ruled out on water reforms
Delaying the introduction of new water reforms was not an option according to the two cabinet Ministers directly involved – Environment Minister David Parker and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor.
What did he expect? That the company stay in local hands and go broke instead?
Perhaps he wanted Westland’s farmer owners to take a lower offer and miss out. Or did he, as a good socialist, want to nationalise the company?
It might also have been worth O’Connor noting – before stating that ‘every Westland director should be blacklisted from further governance roles’ – that his own brother was recently a board member and so also helped oversee the co-op’s demise.
